Former India opener Virender Sehwag has strongly criticised Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy following Chennai Super Kings’ disappointing defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2026. Sehwag felt CSK’s tactical approach during the powerplay was far too predictable and claimed the decision to avoid spin bowling early in the innings proved costly.

CSK’s pace attack struggled badly against the aggressive opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglis, conceding 86 runs in the powerplay without taking a wicket. Despite having an overseas slot available, the franchise surprisingly left in-form spinner Akeal Hosein out of the playing XI. That decision raised eyebrows, especially after Noor Ahmad emerged as Chennai’s most economical bowler with figures of 0/21 from four overs.

Speaking on Cricbuzz, Virender Sehwag questioned why CSK failed to challenge the Australian batters with spin during the early overs. “When two Australian batters were playing together who played pace bowling well, you could have started with spin, right? I did not understand why you decided in advance that we would bring Gurjapneet. The captaincy was quite weak; you didn’t even try spin at all in the powerplay,” Sehwag said.

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The former India batter believed introducing Noor Ahmad or Akeal Hosein earlier could have created pressure and possibly broken the dangerous opening stand before the game slipped away from Chennai.

“You could have at least tried it once because Marsh plays pace bowling so well. At least you had a chance of getting a wicket if a spinner was brought on early. Even if the spinner got hit, the pacers were already getting smashed for boundaries,” he added.

Sehwag further explained that CSK missed a tactical opportunity by not attacking LSG’s fragile middle order sooner.

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“I would have actually used Noor Ahmad in the powerplay itself because a wicket then would have meant a lot, especially when their middle order isn’t working well,” Virender Sehwag concluded. Interestingly, CSK had used Akeal Hosein in the powerplay during the reverse fixture in Chennai earlier this season, but the left-arm spinner conceded 35 runs in two overs during that outing.